Roughly thirty citizens voted on which initiatives they liked best and the results of that Open House were shared during the Planning Commission’s meeting on Tuesday night (01-03-17). Commissioners were then asked which ideas they’d like to include in Sitka’s Comprehensive Plan. See those results here: Open House Results
Tiny homes and sweat equity programs, including homesteading and Habitat for Humanity, were the most popular initiatives to address Sitka’s housing crunch. Commissioners, like Richard Parmelee, were interested in reducing Sitka’s minimum lot size, which is currently 8000 square feet. “You could take a 5000 square foot lot and you could build a starter home for somebody on it. It would be perfectly fine for a young couple and they could still raise two children on it. And I think our society today, not just Sitka but everywhere, I think that’s what we’re looking at – is scaling our lifestyle back to smaller houses,” Parmelee said.
But they had questions about how to classify and finance tiny homes. How, for instance, can a bank put a mortgage on a tiny home if it’s on wheels? Isn’t that an RV? Commissioners weren’t sure. What they do know is that the Sitka market doesn’t have enough housing for all and what’s available isn’t affordable for many.
Barbara Sheinberg, a consultant leading the plan re-write, said that nearly a third of Sitka taxpayers have $625 a month for house payments. That’s not enough to make a mortgage payment on most Sitka homes. During persons to be heard, Charles Bingham shared his experience. “In this town, unless I win a lottery, there’s no way I can afford to buy anything. I can barely afford rent. Just trying to get something out there that’s more in line with where wages are now I think is really critical now. We lose young people I think we’re going to lose a lot of vitality in this town too.”
On the subject of the local economy, Open House participants were most interested in switching to electric vehicles and developing a marine center at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park.